A YOUTH club boss has backed a call to ban a device to disperse young people by giving out a high-pitched sound.

Jeremy Glover, chief executive of Bolton Lads and Girls Club, said the Mosquito device is not the answer to the problem of youngsters hanging about on streets.

He said: "It is a sad indictment on us, as adults, if the best we can come up with to solve the problem is to introduce a noise to move them on. If this is the best we can do, my heart weeps."

Mr Glover's comments have echoed those of the Children's Commissioner for England, Professor, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, who has just launched a campaign called "Buzz Off", supported by civil liberties groups, calling for a ban on Mosquitos.

The gadget exploits young people's ability to hear very high frequencies, a power which declines once they reach their 20s.

Campaigners say an estimated 3,500 Mosquitos are in use in England to disperse children and young people from hanging around in parks, shopping centres and shops.

However, Sir Al Aynsley-Green is concerned about an "emerging gap" between the young and the old.

He said many old people even had a hatred of the young and argued that the Mosquito demonised children.

Sir Al said: "These devices are indiscriminate and target all children and young people, including babies, regardless of whether they are behaving or misbehaving."

He now hopes to construct a map of all the Mosquitos in use and is urging people to look at tackling the root cause of the problem - which he believes is that children have nowhere else to go.

Civil rights group Liberty has attacked the use of Mosquitoes, saying they indiscriminately effect all young people, including babies.

Jeremy Glover, of Bolton Lads and Girls Club, said more youth clubs are need across the country, adding: "Adults need to do more for young people. Youngsters want somewhere to meet their friends and have fun, somewhere they feel safe and can talk to adults if they want to. That is what we provide.

"Over the last two years there has been a lot of bad press about young people. Adults have been talking about standing up to young people but this is the wrong way to go about it. It just creates more ill feeling," said Mr Glover.

Simon Buckley, the managing director at Cheshire CCTV, which installs Mosquitos and has a branch in Bromley Cross, said: "People put the Mosquito on properties because of things like malicious vandalism and I think the device is warranted if it is in the right places.

"I do not perceive it as being a nuisance to anybody other than youths loitering in one place who should not be there and who can be a nuisance to the building owner and the public.

"There are youth clubs, community centres and parks available for them. This is not about targeting anybody - it is about protecting buildings."

However, the National Autistic Society has voiced concern about the effects the device may have on people with autism.

Spokesman Benet Middleton said: "Our helpline has received calls from people who have been adversely affected by the Mosquito system and who are worried by the distress it may cause to people with autism."

Last year, Kathleen Marshall, the Children's Commissioner in Scotland, launched a similar campaign north of the border.

Backing the English campaign yesterday, she said: "Young people have a right to assemble and socialise with their friends, without being treated as criminals."

The Mosquito's legality is being called into question and its creator, Howard Stapleton, from South Wales, has said a test court case may be the only way to establish its legal status.

He said: "People talk about infringing human rights but what about the human rights of the shopkeeper who is seeing his business collapse because teenagers are driving customers away?"

He would like to see a fair use code drawn up to ensure responsible use of Mosquitos.

"We tell shopkeepers to use it when they have a problem. I would be more than happy to introduce a contract which stipulates to shopkeepers how it can be used," Mr Stapleton said.

Mosquitos - the facts

  • The Mosquito was introduced to this country in 2005
  • It was invented by former British Aerospace engineer Howard Stapleton after his daughter was intimidated by a gang of boys outside a shop near to their South Wales home
  • The device is manufactured by Compound Security Systems and it is estimated there are around 3,500 of them being used across England
  • The Mosquito emits an ultrasonic sound similar to that of a mosquito and can only be heard by young people because of the inevitable deterioration of hearing with age
  • Some youngsters are recording the sound of the Mosquito on to their mobile telephones so they can leave their phones switched on in class and their teachers will not hear the high-pitched ring.